


A Prankster's Promise

by Squarepeg72



Series: Shield and Quill [15]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Samhain, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-06 04:44:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21220796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: Not every promise is kept the way we expect. Can a bond forged in the magic of Samhain help Loki keep the one he made to Hermione?Warning: Avenger Endgame compliant, tissues will be needed





	A Prankster's Promise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aleysiasnape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleysiasnape/gifts).

> Written for Marvelously Magical Fanfiction's #SomethingWicked2019
> 
> Prompt: Character A find themselves bound to certain individuals on Samhain.
> 
> Writtne for Marvelously Magical Fanfiction's #Bingo2019  
Square I4 - Dark Side by Bishop Briggs
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/48978085216/in/dateposted-public/)  


Hermione played with the ring on the chain around her neck as she looked across the pond. Tonight’s Samhain bonfire was supposed to be a celebration of lives lead, but all she could think about was the one she had lost.

Tonight was supposed to be her first anniversary, a celebration of a bond and a promise made at a different bonfire. Surrounded by family and friends, they had made promises to each other and felt the bond between their souls. But, life never played out the way anyone expected it, especially when you loved a trickster.

Hermione and Loki had been happy together before he had been called back to help his family. She understood the risks of war and the call to help those you cared about. She had fought that war when she was still a student. So, they had invited their families, by birth and by choice, to a Samhain bonfire. They surprised everyone by making promises of forever in the light of that bonfire. It was not the wedding she had dreamed of, but it was a dream come true just the same.

This spot was the last place she had held him before the Bifrost took him away. Loki had kissed her gently before stepping into the light. “I will always return to you,” had echoed across the pond as he vanished.

But, he hadn’t returned. He had sacrificed his life for his brother’s instead. Hermione had waited for the illusion to fade when Thor had shown up on her doorstep, head hanging, and Loki’s wedding band clutched in his fist. “I’m sorry, Lady Hermione,” Thor had choked out as he placed the band in her trembling hand. “I would give anything to be bringing my brother back to you.”

“Loki, stop,” she whispered as she waited for Thor’s face to melt into her beloved’s. “This is not funny.”

“I wish this was one of my brother’s tricks,” Thor’s voice cracked as he closed her fingers around her treasure. “He sacrificed himself for me and I can never repay the debt I owe.”

Hermione had let him lead her into her room and settle her in the bed. She hadn’t cracked until he left the room. Curling up into a ball and screaming at the world had only helped for a little while. She dried her tears, threaded his ring onto a chain, and went back to work.

She had never stopped looking for him to come back. Loki might be a prankster, but he had never broken a promise. She caught herself talking to him as she wound down from a long day at the Ministry. She still expected to see him lounging on the bed when she walked out of the bathroom. She prayed for him to slide behind her and hold her hair back as she worshiped the porcelain throne for mornings on end after Thor’s visit.

She was tired of waiting and wanting. Tonight, she was accepting that Loki was gone and letting his spirit go. He had always hated to be tied or caged in his life. She was finished doing it to him in the afterlife. Samhain bonfires were said to be magical, opening communications between this world and the next. Tonight, Hermione would tell him about what he had left behind and release him from his promise.

_oOoOoOoOoOoOo_

Loki hated to see her struggle. Even from the afterlife, he watched over her. She had taken his death with her usual resolve - strong in public, a beautiful mess in private.

She had been so fun to tease when they first met. He loved to watch her try to keep her temper as his tricks made mischief, and work, for her in more than one world. What he could never tell her is she had become his conscious. The small voice in his head that tamed the prankster. She was the reason he had mended fences with his brother and had answered the call for help that had lead to his death.

Last year’s Samhain bonfire had been a blessing he never thought he would receive. Bonding his life to hers had given him the peace his mother had promised him he would find. Having the ceremony at the bonfire when the veil between worlds was thin had let all of their friends and family see their promises. His parents had materialized in the shadows as the bonfire had raged. Odin had nodded and Freya had raised a hand in blessing as he and Hermione had linked hands and made promises.

Loki had not wanted to leave that night four months ago. He was happy with his life, and he stayed out of trouble, for the most part. But, family was more important than personal preferences. So, he had answered Thor’s call. As he vanished into the Bifrost, he promised her he would return, he just didn’t realize just how different his form would be.

Loki had watched her through the veil as she struggled to accept Thor’s news. He ached to be beside her as she curled around his pillow and let her sorrow leak into their space. He listened as she entered their flat every day, talking about her day, telling him of the happenings at the Ministry. She always stopped talking when she reached the doorway between the sitting room and the kitchen, like she expected to see him fixing a pot of tea instead of seeing the emptiness left with his passing. He had tried desperately to rip a hole in the veil as he watched her stomach revolt each morning, aching to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright.

Loki was ready for tonight’s bonfire. It was his chance to let Hermione know he would always keep his promises to her. He might not be able to keep them the way he had originally intended, but he would keep them. He might have been known as the God of Mischief, but she was his world, no matter which one he was in. He knew she had to let him go so she could move beyond the loop she was stuck in. Tonight, he was going to celebrate their life with her and help her plan for their future.

_oOoOoOoOoOoOo_

“Mione,” Ron’s voice drifted across the pond, thanks to the magic of the Burrow. “Hurry up. It’s starting to get dark, and we need to get to the bonfire.”

“I’m coming.” Hermione sighed as she sent her message back across the water. “Just five more minutes.”

“Don’t know that Mum can wait that long.” Ron’s chuckle was an undercurrent in the message returned to her. “She and Darcy have hot drinks for everyone to drink before we go to the meadow. Mum says she will not be responsible for someone freezing at her Samhain bonfire.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Hermione rubbed her hand over her slightly rounded stomach. “Tell your wife to make my cider hot but not boiling. I would like to be able to speak at the bonfire, and I cannot do that if she blisters my mouth with her cider.”

Ron’s laughter boomed across the pond as she walked back towards the Burrow. Ron was waiting for her at the gate, holding it open for her. “I know tonight is supposed to be your anniversary. I’m sorry he can’t be here with you.”

“He’ll be here.” Hermione smiled as she took the elbow he offered. “He promised, and Samhain is said to be a time when the veil is thin enough for those who have passed over to come back for a visit.”

“Fred shows up.” Hermione laughed as they continued to walk to the Burrow. “Just never in the way you expect. Your family prankster was a favorite of my prankster. I think I caught them whispering after the ceremony last year.”

“Please be careful.” Ron turned Hermione to face him just before they reached the garden door. “You have more than yourself to worry over now. I don’t want you to fall into your dark space again if he doesn’t show up tonight.”

“He promised he would come back,” Hermione whispered as she wiped a tear from her cheek. “He has never broken a promise to me. I need to say some things to him by the fire even if he can’t be here. I need to tell him about what he left behind.”

“I’m sure he will be here if he can.” Ron reached for the door. “What ghost wouldn’t want to know he was going to be a father?”

_oOoOoOoOoOoOo_

Loki watched as Molly Weasley cast the charm that lit the Samhain bonfire. As the flames built, he could feel the barrier between worlds thin. Soon, he would be able to cross.

“Oi, Trickster,” Loki turned as he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Glad to see you could make it. Most newbies miss their first year. Mione will be happy to see you.”

“Hello, Fred,” Loki chuckled. “Who else have you brought with you? I appreciate you bringing my parents last year, but if you don’t bring who your mum asked for…”

“I may be a ghost, but I am not stupid.” Fred swept his free hand to the space behind them. “Just Moony and Padfoot this year. They said they wanted to see how their boys were doing. It’s not like they don’t watch Harry and Teddy all the time, but there is something about being able to have them see you that keeps me coming back.”

“Agreed.” Loki looked at the crowd that had gathered around the crackling bonfire. “Time to say hello to my wife. Don’t get into too much trouble, Prankster.”

Loki watched Fred push through the veil and walk towards his mum. Putting his hands in front of him like he was grabbing a curtain, Loki opened a space and walked through the veil between the worlds.

_oOoOoOoOoOoOo_

Hermione watched the flames rise up from the wood of the bonfire. She ran a finger along the edge of the parchment she was holding. It was a letter to Loki, telling him about their baby and letting him go. All she had to do was dip it in the bubbling cauldron before she threw it in the fire. But she couldn’t move. Now that the time had come, she could not make herself take the last steps to the cauldron or the bonfire. With a whisper, Hermione closed her eyes and broke. “Loki, my love, help me …”

“Darling, I told you I would come back for you.” Loki touched her tears with a ghostly finger. “Tonight is Samhain. Magic always happens on Samhain.”

Hermione bent her head as her tears continued to fall. “This isn’t real. Just because I want it to be, doesn’t make it real.”

“Look at me, darling.” Loki placed a finger under her chin and pushed up. “Tonight, the veil has lifted. Tonight, we get a chance to be together.”

Hermione gasped as she opened her eyes to meet his. “How is this possible? How are you here?”

“Magic.” Loki shrugged as he pulled her into his embrace. “Those who desire to see loved ones need only find the right bonfire and wait for the veil to thin enough for them to cross.”

“We have a few things to talk about.” Hermione’s whisper barely reached his ears as she placed one of his hands over her stomach. “How far away from the fire can you go? I don’t want to share you right now.”

“I have to stay within the light of the fire, but I think we will have all the privacy we will need.” Loki chuckled as he heard Molly scream Fred’s name. “It seems as though the Weasleys’ favorite prankster has arrived with a few friends.”

Loki and Hermione watched as Fred, Sirius, and Remus stepped out of the bonfire flames and into the arms of their loved ones. The echoes of their joy filled the meadow as old friends and family caught up on the events of the last year.

“Come, sit.” Loki pulled Hermione towards a blanket he saw on the ground near the bonfire. “Tell me what is in that letter you are currently mangling.”

Hermione sank onto the blanket and stared into the fire. “I’m afraid you will disappear as soon as I finish reading it. Scared that you are only a figment of my deepest desire. I don’t want you to vanish.”

“I am here until the fire dies.” Loki settled on to the blanket behind her. “Molly Weasley will not let this fire die until dawn. She didn’t last year and she won’t this year.”

Hermione leaned back and was surprised to find Loki’s solid chest behind her. “There is so much I need to tell you. I don’t know where to begin.”

“Start with the letter.” Loki wrapped his arms around her. “You wrote it for a reason. So, read it to me.”

“Are you sure you want to hear it?” Hermione’s voice was still little more than a whisper. “I can just give it to you and let you read it later. I really just want to feel you right now.”

“Where is my brave witch?” Loki settled his chin into the crook of her neck as he started to rub circles on her stomach. “I want you to read it to me, so I have the memory of your voice to go with the parchment. Things have a way of disintegrating when they cross to the other side of the veil. Not even my magic can stop that.”

Taking a deep breath, Hermione opened the folded parchment and began to read.

_“Loki, my love,_

_I guess it is time to say goodbye. I know you promised to come back to me, but it is time to let you go._

_When Thor first told me you were gone, I waited for him to slowly turn into you, my beloved prankster. It would not be the first time you used your brother’s face as the base for an illusion to trick me, and I was sure that this was just another trick. But, instead of waving your hand and becoming yourself, Thor handed me your ring and broke my heart. His silent tears as he wrapped my fingers around your ring crushed me._

_It took a few days for me to move from the bed after he left. I put your ring on the chain that used to hold my time turner and tried to go back to living. I still talk to you when I get home from work every day. I still expect to see you making a pot of tea when I walk into our kitchen. But you are never there. You are not listening or making tea. So, I have decided to stop looking._

_I got sick a few months ago. It was only in the mornings, and I seemed to be able to function once I stopped throwing up. I thought it was the stress of losing you, but Ron and Harry didn’t agree and made me go to the healer. I hate it when those two are right._

_You left a little piece of yourself behind, my love. A tiny little imp to remind me of the life we shared and the joy we created. In a way, you will be returning to me. Our child is a part of you that I will always get to keep._

_Today is supposed to be our anniversary. Today, we are supposed to celebrate our bond to each other. Today, we should be telling our friends and family about this little one together. But, that is not what is going to happen._

_Tonight, I am letting you go. I am reclaiming my sanity and honoring your memory. I will whisper my wish into the smoke of the bonfire before I tell everyone that a piece of you will always be with us. Tonight, I stop grieving and start living._

_I will always love you. I will never forget you. I know you will always watch over us. Our little one will be a legacy for both of us._

_Now and always,_  
_ Hermione”_

Hermione let the parchment drop into her lap. Her eyes burned as she felt his hands cover the life their love had created.

“So much to say for such a tiny piece of paper.” Loki’s voice shook as he took in everything she had written. “Of all the things I could have wished for, this was never one of them.”

“What are we going to do?” Hermione whispered her question into the smoke of the bonfire. “How are we going to make this all work? What are we going to tell them?”

“Just what you told me.” Loki kissed the tears from her cheeks. “We are going to put one foot in front of the other and make this work. Our daughter is strong. She has an amazing witch as a role model. We have family all around us.”

“Daughter?’ Hermione looked up at Loki’s shining eyes, “ Don’t tease me. How can you know what our child will be?”

“Because she is already talking to me.” Loki rested his forehead against hers. “Don’t worry. It’s just a small gift from me.”

“I feel so alone.” Hermione’s confession tore from her throat. “I don’t know how to do this. What if I mess up? What if I can’t find my balance?”

“Then, you talked to me and to Molly.” Loki shrugged as he held her close, “You raise her to be strong, and you bring her to this bonfire every year so I can touch her and hug her and tell her how proud I am of her. If we are lucky, you will find someone to love you the way I have, and we will share you and our little one until you join me on the other side of the veil.”

“You make it sound so simple.” Hermione watched the flames rise as Ron added another log to the pile.

“Simple, yes. Easy, not so much.” Loki tightened his embrace. “Even when you can’t see me, I will be nearby. Just don’t stop living because I have. Our bond will always be there.”

“Promises, promises. Don’t make them if you can’t keep them, my beloved prankster.”

“I won’t.”


End file.
